wrath of the Sea Queen (54 page)

"
Ok, f
irst a brash young man tries to steal your affect
ion, and now
another man
boldly
invites you to a hotel
stay
, right in front of me
. 
We are definitely going to have that talk once we get
settled
.  What exactly did you do on that plane?
"
Vin
asked
as he looked down at C
a
eli and smiled.   

"
I simply
offered my help, that's all,
"
C
a
eli returned
tiredly
.

"
Oh, I think it was
a bit
more than that
.  You
can't fool me
so
easily.  I know you too well
, b
ut
you ca
n
t
ell me
about it
later
.
"

"
It
ha
s been a rough day
. 
It will be nice to crawl into bed,
"
C
a
eli
responded
.
  She did not want to worry Vin
any further until she had a chance to talk to Salma
.

Vin could tell she was no
t
in a playful mo
od, so he let the comment that her reply brought
to mind remain unvoiced.

They turned to make their way to the ladder and caught sight of the dual monitors on the opposite wall.  On the first screen,
S
alma
was clearly visible
inside the steering room talking to the captain.  Then the camera was jostled enough so that they could see Ben
come
into sight
as he walked
from the railing
toward
the steering room.  The second monitor showed the
pier
where a large crowd beg
a
n to cheer or jeer; they could not tell which.  Then a sound like distant gun
fire echoed from both screens.

"
Ben!
"
  C
a
eli
saw
him fall to his knees a split second before Vin.  She
dashed toward
the ladder
until
jolted to a stop by the pressure of Vin's arms
encircling
her waist from behind.  And then, just as quickly, he stood blocking her path with his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"
No, C
a
eli!  It's not safe for you to go out there.  You could get yourself killed.
"
  Vin's voice was stern.  He knew how much C
a
eli cared for Ben
.  H
e did
, too
.  But more often than not,
especially when her family was involved,
C
a
eli
tended to react impu
lsively rather than
employing her better judgment by
thinking a
matter through completely. 
I
n
this
instance
, Vin was better suited to offer assistance.

"
C
a
eli stop
!
"

She still struggl
ed
against him, albeit weakly, with
fear
in her eyes.  The gathering rain visible on the monitors matched her mood.  Vin gently took her chin in his hand and forced her to look up at him. 

"
Honey
, listen to me.  I am going
up
to help
Ben
. 
I want you to stay down here. 
I will find out what happened, but I don't want to have to worry about you, too.  You can watch from the monitor.
  Will you please stay here?
"

C
a
eli stopped struggling and looked up at him through weary eyes and answered with reluctance.

"
Yes. 
Please hurry.
"

Vin kissed her quickly and took off.  He
flew
up the ladder and
disappeared
faster than she could believe.  He
had
always been a fast runner, but she sometimes forgot how much quicker Vin could move with a little wind at his back.  C
a
eli kept her eyes
glued to
the monitor
s
.  Within moments, Salma
was
at
Ben's side and Vin knel
t
down
opposite her
as
Ben
lay flat on the deck
. 
In the dim
evening
light, it was difficult to see
, but
C
a
eli
noticed
t
he
small pool of blood
forming
near
Ben's
lower back.  The wind seemed to gust around them, and C
a
eli
knew
that nothing else would be able to harm
any of
them.  Unfortunately, the damage was already done.

"
Somebody better give me some
information
about this helicopter and its pilot right now or there's gonna be hell to pay!  It
took
off from somewhere.  It didn't just appear out of thin air.
"
  Colonel Franks
was
already
perturbed by what he thought
assumed to be
a college prank or some liberalist group t
rying to get media attention.  Sticky
cherry syrup
stilled
matted
his hair.  He
had been
attempt
ing
to
get
the
other craft to
land
without using force
, but
found such passive
method
s
unsuccessful.  W
ithout actually being permitted to fire at
it
prior to a
hostile
provocation,
the colonel's
hands were tied.  So his crew
had
spent the last t
wenty
minutes uselessly
chasing the black helicopter
up and down the coast
.

Now the hunt was on.  Since
someone fired a gun into the crowd on the
pier
, and the people in the helicopter shot at those who were exposed on the open deck of the ship, the colonel
had
permi
ssion
to vent his anger against the attackers
.  Someone was going to pay
for this nonsense
.  Who would have the audacity to fire on a
Coast Guard
ship in the midst of a
N
ational
G
uard patrol?  It was a bold act of utter stupidity.

"
Colonel, a report from HQ says the craft was reported stolen by one of the tour guide agencies last week.  They filed all the correct paperwork, but there hasn't been much effort put into the investigation.
"

"
Hmm…well, since they fired the first shot, it only seems fair that we return the favor.  Fire
a shot
at their rudder.  Perhaps we can shake them up a bit. 
Let's
stop playing
cat and mouse
and give them something
tangible
to worry about.
"

The shot went high and to the left. 
It
didn't even come close to hitting the mark.  The other helicopter immediately returned fire, and were apparently much better marksmen.  A bullet pierced the window and hit the left shoulder of the Sergeant
sitting
in the copilot's seat.  The pilot immediately turned their craft sideways, so the sergeant would be out of the direct line of fire.  This also allowed their gunman a better shot out the side door, should the colonel order return fire. 

The colonel pulled the injured sergeant from his seat and laid him
on
the floor in the back of the helicopter.  He looked at the wound and
determined
that the bullet
went
straight through.  Colonel Franks grabbed the medical kit from its place
under the
pilot's seat, put a field dressing on the wound, and then bound the sergeant's arm in a sling. 
A
makeshift
remedy
at best, but it would keep him stable
until
he could get proper medical attention.  Right now, they could not risk leaving the scene and losing their position
for a non-life threatening wound
. 
If they left, t
he people on the
pier
and the ship
would be
unprotected
.  T
he attacker
s would be free
to move in closer.  The colonel could not permit that to happen.  Nor would he allow the attackers to flee.  For the moment, a stalemate
stayed his retribution
.